After more than a year of intense training, 10 Oak Bluffs volunteer firefighters graduated from Firefighting I and II training.
Trainees completed the training over the course of a year, beginning in January 2019, putting in a total of 245 hours on nights and weekends. The group took a brief break during the hectic summer season, but headed right back into training in the fall.
Longtime firefighter Joe Nedder, along with a team of trainers, instructed the group. Nedder is a 40-year firefighting veteran from Uxbridge, and has been conducting training for fire departments for several years. “I’ve always been on call or a volunteer. I’ve always taken it very, very seriously,” Nedder said. “You got to be able to do the job. You’ve got to have passion that burns within to excel at it.”
Nedder added that fire departments have a responsibility to train their firefighters and hold them to a high standard. “Everyone should be trained the same. There’s a baseline to the job safely and effectively. We should be following a national standard,” he said.
The course consisted of intense training on fire behavior, operating hoses and ladders, extrication, using equipment such as a breathing apparatus, how to ventilate a building, how to attack a fire, and much more. The trainees were able to utilize a building that was going to be torn down. They took the building apart, which Nedder said allowed the trainees to learn how buildings are put together.
“It’s pretty involved, and it’s extremely physical,” Nedder said of the whole training. “They did really well. Very, very proud of them.”
Of the 18 who began the training, only 10 finished, which Nedder said was a testament not only to the intensity of the course, but the mettle of the firefighters who completed it.
Nedder said he may be back on-Island, as he is in talks with other Island fire departments regarding training.
The complete list of graduates: Alicia Rabbitt, Antone deBettencourt, Bobbie Distin, Evan Reid, Justin Alexander, Kyle Gatchell, Marc Levesque, Matthew Bradley, Thalysson Ribeiro, and William Reich.